ORGANIZATION

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is the agency charged with implementing the State's public school laws and the State Board of Education's policies and procedures governing pre-kindergarten through 12th grade public education. The elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction heads the Department and functions under the policy direction of the State Board of Education.

The agency has approximately 750 positions providing leadership and service to local public school districts and schools in the areas of curriculum and instruction, accountability, finance, teacher and administrator preparation and licensing, professional development and school business support and operations.

The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) developed the Standard Course of Study which describes the subjects and course content that should be taught in North Carolina public schools and develops the assessments and accountability model used to evaluate school and district success.

DPI professionals are currently creating the North Carolina's Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort – also known as ACRE. This is the state's comprehensive initiative to redefine the Standard Course of Study for K-12 students, the student testing program and the school accountability model. In undertaking this ambitious work, North Carolina education leaders are the first in the nation to address learning standards, student tests and school accountability simultaneously. Quite simply, this is the most important and significant work of the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction in a generation.

The DPI administers annual public school funds totaling approximately $8 billion in state and federal funds and licenses the approximately 120,000 teachers and administrators serving in public schools.

The DPI's primary offices are in Raleigh, NC, with three regional alternative centers in Charlotte, Fayetteville and Nashville issuing approximately 30,000 new teacher and administrator licenses annually. The DPI's work extends to the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching (in Cullowhee and Ocracoke), the NC Teacher Academy and the NC Virtual Public School. The state agency also works closely with nine Regional Education Service Alliances/Consortia across the state as well as directly with the state's 115 local education agencies.